Interview: Corrales and Castillo Look Back At Showtime Thriller

World Boxing Organization/World Boxing Council Lightweight Champion Diego Corrales and former WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo fought one of the great fights of all time last Saturday on Showtime Boxing.

Here is what the boxers, and members of their team had to say four days later:

DuBuof: I want to thank everyone that helped make this wonderful match. It has been unbelievable and I think the whole sports world knows that this fight was something legendary and Castillo and Corrales put on a performance that great athletes do and people that go into legendary status in their careers do. They put on a beautiful performance for the viewer, made people think how great boxing is, and the general sports fan is now going to have the pleasure of seeing it again on Friday (Showtime, 11 p.m. ET/PT).

Question: Jose, why don’t you tell people how you are feeling now. How are you recovering from the fight physically?

Castillo: Physically, I feel great. I’m still a little sore from the fight, but other than that, I am fine. I am just looking forward to maybe doing it again with him in the rematch. I think there is still a lot of doubt as to who really is the best fighter, lightweight, So let’s do it again and decide.

Question: Jose, did you relax after the second knockdown? What was his mindset after the second knockdown in the 10th round?

Castillo: I could see that he was trying to get up, so I knew it wasn’t over. But I was just waiting for the referee to give me another chance to put him down again and get the fight over with. I know he was a punch away from being over.

Question: Are you guys going to protest?

Castillo: We talked to the WBC. I’m sure the WBC has already set that behind us, so we are hoping to get a direct rematch with Diego.

Question: Jose, when you got hit were you conscious enough to maybe take a knee or were you so hurt that he could not do anything else?

Castillo: He did not give me a chance to put a knee down. I got hit and all the sudden the fight is over.

Question: How soon can you have the rematch?

Castillo: My next fight will probably be against Diego Corrales, probably in November. I hope it will be in November. We are not going to fight anybody else, and hopefully we will do that rematch then.

Question: Did you feel you were in one of the greatest fights ever whenever you were fighting it? Now that everyone is talking about it, how do you feel?

Castillo: I just go to do my job. I do not think about anything else. I go up there to do the best I can and to give the people the best fight that I can. And that is all I did. That is the kind of fight I want to give the people all the time.

Question: It is four days later and it is all over the radio and the writers are still talking about what a great fight it is. What have you thought about most in these last four days and is there any consolation knowing that you participated in maybe the greatest fight of all time?

Castillo: What I think about is the surprise, the way that it was stopped. That was the first thing on my mind when I was looking at him down there. I thought it was over. I just think about how it turned around so fast. I’m glad that people think that way and hopefully my sons and my grandkids will sometime see that fight and know what I did, that I did have a great fight.

Question: Jose, could take us briefly through and tell us what happened after Diego got up. What did you get hit with first and did you see the punch coming?

Castillo: I thought when he came at me I got hit with a perfect right hand. I did get hurt, and I thought I was going to be delivering that punch, and that’s what I remember most – him coming at me and me getting hit with a right hand.

Question: Everybody in the arena was just buzzing, especially the 10th round. Everybody was amazed and in awe. Do you think basically that Tony Weeks was caught up in the moment and kind of in awe himself and that is why he stopped the fight early?

Castillo: No, I was concentrating. I was waiting for him to get up so I could just put him down for good, because that is all I kept thinking: just go after him and finish him. All the time was going by, but I just wanted the fight to start again so I could get him.

Question: Do you think Tony Weeks was caught up in the moment and that is why he stopped the fight early?

Castillo: That is his job, that is what he has to do. There is nothing I can do about him. There is nothing I can do about him, so I do not even worry about that. The result is already done. I am not going to start crying about what happened. Everybody saw it, everybody knows what happened.

Question: The way the fight developed, were you surprised at the way Corrales fought – the fact that he chose just to stay inside and exchange blows?

Castillo: Not at all. I loved it. He said he was going to do that, so once he did it, it was great for me. I loved it.

DuBuof: I also think if you watch the fight pretty carefully, you could see that Diego tried getting his distance and Jose was pretty smart. Every time he went to get the distance, he started working the body well, which obviously kept him from moving too much. So I think you saw that develop as the fight went on, which kind of took Diego out of that keeping his distance game plan.

Question: How did you feel after the fight when Diego was saying that he felt it was a great honor and that he had never fought anyone like you? Does that mean anything to you or do you feel the same?

Castillo: I feel the same way. To me it was a great honor to fight him. I am glad that we fought the kind of fight that everyone liked, and that is why I want to fight the best. Guys I come to fight are guys that really want to do their best out there, and that is what I like to do.

Question: Is there any concern about your health in a rematch?

Castillo: That is what you prepare yourself for. If you are in top condition you can take this, 12 rounds like that. That is what we prepare ourselves to do, 12 hard rounds, just like you saw the other night. If we prepare ourselves again, we should be ready to go another 12 rounds like that.

Question: Did your corner at any time give you any indication to fall down, to grab or do anything to maintain the title, instead of just getting hit after the second knockdown?

Castillo: We were very confident. I think we were confident of what we were doing, that the fight was going our way, and things were happening the way we wanted it to happen. We did not even think about that. We were just there to fight and to take care of business.

Question: Why did you go to the hospital after the fight?

Castillo: I have my own doctors. They all looked at me. I have two doctors with me all the time. They checked me out. I was fine. But I am going to go take some exams later on this week.

Question: Todd, what exactly is the status of the rematch at this point in time?

DuBuof: I do not know if anyone has talked about a rematch in November, other than Castillo saying he would like to have one. Obviously, we want to get it too. We have not really had much conversation, but from I have gathered from reading the press stories, the Corrales camp say they are not really ready for a rematch right now. I think obviously it is what the fight fans want, it is obviously what Castillo wants. Obviously, the Corrales’ camp probably feels different. But listen, it was a terrific show, and obviously we would like to give it back to the people, so we will do whatever we can to try to make that.

DuBuof: I just thank everybody and from all of us, we should thank Jose Luis. It was great and we hope everyone enjoyed the show as much as we did. He gave a wonderful performance, and the sport of boxing is better today because of Jose Luis Castillo than it was yesterday.

Castillo: That is the way I like to fight. Opponents are not always are willing to mix it up like that. Diego did, so I am very happy that he was able to do that, and I am very happy that people really enjoyed the fight. Like I said, if you give me more opponents like that, I will give you that kind of night every single night out.

Shaw: I want to start off and give a special thank you to Showtime for just sticking by me, Gary Shaw Productions, and sticking by Diego Corrales for all these many, many months and delays in getting both fighters in to the ring. I want to let the world of boxing know that without Jay Larkin and Ken Hershman standing behind (me) strong and wanting this fight as much as I wanted the fight, the fight would never have been made. To Showtime, I am indebted to you.

I think everybody on this call, as well as the rest of the world knows that this is now a legendary fight, and both fighters are now legends. Both fighters are true champions. Jose Luis Castillo is not the best lightweight in the whole world. He is right up there, right with Chico Corrales, as Joe Goossen said during the press conference. But on that night, Diego Corrales was just a hair better. But never, ever take anything away from Castillo or Chico Corrales. I told Chico the other day that that punch changed his life for the rest of his life, not only financially and with respect to opponents, but for the rest of his life. People will always come up to him and talk about that fight on that May date against Jose Luis Castillo. I think both fighters deserve all the recognition that they are getting because I believe that possibly both of them left a little in the ring. I will tell you that Top Rank are sore losers once again; like in Mosley-De La Hoya, calling it a fix and trying to make the mouthpiece a controversy. We have not talked about all the low blows that Castillo threw. Chico Corrales has never made one statement about that, or the points that probably should have been deducted. But I think, to Tony Weeks’ credit, the stoppage was correct. On Friday night, when you watch it, I suggest after you watch it, you put it in slow-mo, or watch Showtime put it in slow-motion for you, and when you see Castillo’s head going from side to side, you will know at that moment Tony Weeks did the right thing. It was the right stoppage. No fight is worth going on with if there is the possibility of a fighter getting hurt badly. It is better that they come back for another day. You notice Bob Arum is not on this call because he is probably sitting with Jose at breakfast in Mexico, trying to get the WBC to order a rematch. I think that would be the wrong thing for boxing, and certainly a terrible thing for a sanctioning organization.

If the fight is going to happen again, it will happen because Team Corrales believes it is the right fight, both financially, and for the health and welfare of our fighter. Chico Corrales is not afraid to fight anyone, including Castillo. And it is not that Castillo is not deserving of a rematch, but there may be others (to think about), The team will get together, Jay Prince and myself and Diego and Joe, and we will discuss a strategy. So there is no ducking. There is no ducking Castillo. Maybe it will happen. Maybe it will happen at a later date. Maybe it will happen at a different weight. We do not know, but it is premature at this time. I think what Diego said when Jim Gray asked him his thoughts on this fight, his first statement was, “It is an honor to be in this ring.” And I think that sums it up. I think that is what this fight was all about. We always said that it was going to be toe-to-toe action. Put a little dot in the center of the ring and both fighters will fight there. They gave the world the greatest fight that I have ever seen in my lifetime, either on TV or in person. I think they did so much for boxing. Right now in the heavyweight division you have a steroid issue, but here were two clean fighters in just the absolute greatest fight of all time. So Chico knows how I feel. I thank you all. I thank everybody for continuing this great victory on. I am taking Diego personally to Manchester, England to sit at ringside (for Kostya Tszyu vs. Ricky Hatton, June 4 on Showtime, 9 p.m. ET/PT), because maybe for all we know, Diego’s next fight could be at 140 pounds. But I thank you all for your continued interest. I would like to turn it over to Diego at this time.

Corrales: I am going to start by saying I have to thank Showtime and my management and my promotion, my trainers, everybody for really making it possible for me to fight a fight like that.

Shaw: Jay Prince, do you want to say something?

Prince: No, it is hard to add or subtract to what you said, Gary. I stand behind it 100 percent.

Goossen: I had heard that they were going to make an issue of this mouthpiece deal and it is really grasping at straws, to tell you the truth. To overshadow this performance by both of these men by being petty and nitpicking about a mouthpiece incident where we were penalized for, and the usual steps were taken (is wrong). You take the fighter over, the mouthpiece is rinsed off and put back in. In the round before, when Diego’s mouthpiece had come out, by a punch, the mouthpiece was still on the floor and the action continued. Now the fight turned around after Diego got hit in that same round and hurt Castillo with it. Now let me just tell you something - the mouthpiece happened to help him in that instance, because Tony Weeks stopped the action when Castillo was hurt the round before the 10th round.

I would just like to say this. For anybody to try to overshadow this, literally one of the greatest fights I have ever seen live or on TV or anywhere else, by trying to get some sort of controversy over the mouthpiece is ridiculous. He had a point taken away for it and that is where it should end, and I am very disturbed that anybody should raise those issues. If you want to fight Diego again, forget all the petty stuff. Just ask for a rematch and that should suffice. But you do not have to sully this fight by throwing in petty stuff like that.

It goes beyond words what the people I have talked to have said, and nobody has mentioned as vehemently as the other side anything about the mouthpiece. All contend one thing – it is the greatest fight they have ever seen and they’ve never seen such heart, determination and courage from two men in the ring ever before. I would just like to leave it at that, and that is the way it should stay.

Question: Diego, you have always talked about the great fighters, and their legendary fights. Is this the kind of fight that you were talking about?

Corrales: It is one of the fights. It came all in one night and this is one of those fights everybody is going to remember for a long, long, long time, so it is cool. I am happy with it. I am looking forward to doing more, but yes, this is exactly what I am talking about.

Question: Could you take us through the point when you got up after the second knockdown. How were you able to summon up the will and the wherewithal to keep going and what did you hit him with?

Corrales: First, I went down and it was a good accumulation of punches. I was trying to grab my mouthpiece and pull it out of my mouth. I grabbed my mouthpiece and pulled it out and my intentions again, like I said before and I am going to say it again, was to grab it, pull it out of my mouth and stand up with it. It fell out of my hands, slipped out of my hands, and I am not going to waste my time or get counted out looking for a dumb mouthpiece. The first thing once I got up was to make sure my corner knew I was OK, that I was clear. I saw Joe and Joe knew I was clear. I got to my feet. At that point, when I was coming to my feet, I see I am losing a point, so it was like, well, come on now. I dropped back and I am trying to keep from losing the point as I really did not want that 10-6 round, but my spirit was still in it. I still knew I could win. I had all the heart and the desire and the knowledge I was going to win the fight. I had to stay in it. I just landed a great right hand. I knew he was going to put the pressure on. He did. He put the high heat on and he threw a jab and I am countering with a right hand, which led everything off. He started to back up and I remember thinking to myself that, oh, he is hurt. So I tried to step forward and land some shots. I landed another right hand, a couple hooks and then finally a clean, clean left hook. The first one, he buckled really good. We now changed positions on ropes. I landed another clean hook while he was on the ropes. Then I threw a hard right hand. I knew he was hurt but it missed. I then threw a hook, and another few punches that missed. But then I landed another left hook and Tony Weeks got in there and had the fight stopped. I knew he was pretty much done once his hands went down to his side. My thing was to never ease up. I had tons of time. I was not going to let this guy off the hook after what we just went through.

Question: After seeing the tape, did you count the number of punches that Diego hit him with before it was stopped? How many it was in a row?

Goossen: It was the effectiveness of the punches that Castillo was getting hit with. His eyes rolling in the back of his head, his neck stopped supporting his head at one particular point. He was defenseless and getting hit with hard shots, whether it was five or 10 of them. They were shots that he was getting hit with while he was helpless and defenseless and basically unconscious. What Diego would have been doing had Tony Weeks not stepped in was to continue to hit Castillo with a few more bombs while he was really out on his feet and asleep.

Shaw: Any time you see a neck like what happened, then you know that’s a danger point. I am here to tell you, that even as Diego’s promoter, if that ever happened to Diego, I would hope someone would step in and stop the fight.

Goossen: I would have been in there way before Tony Weeks would have been had I seen Diego on the ropes helpless. Any time Diego got up, I looked into his eyes and you look at the tape, his legs were steady, he responded to all the commands of Tony Weeks to step forward, then Tony Weeks looked into his eyes. If I had seen that Diego was helpless or could not defend himself, I would have stopped the fight. But that is not what I got. That is not what I saw. I think it was proven right by the end of the fight.

Question: Had you ever landed so many blows and have a guy still standing in front of you?

Corrales: No. He was just unreal. I take my hat off to him. Castillo was unbelievable. How do you take some of the shots he took, as clean as they were, as many of them grouped together?

Goossen: I was completely shocked at the amount of hard shots he took. But he was getting buckled. He got buckled hard in the seventh, but he was buckled in the fourth and in the sixth round as well. He was getting hurt along the way and the accumulation of those punches that stunned him – the only time Diego really got stunned was once before that 10th round where he got driven back a little bit. But that guy got stunned and buckled three, four, five times during the course of that fight and never went down. I’ve never seen a chin like that in my life.

Question: Jose said you landed the first right hand. He was waiting to throw his own right but you came out of nowhere and he said it was perfect. Was that something you were planning?

Corrales: No. I saw an opening, I took it. It is never the shots you plan on making that are so spectacular. It just was I saw the opening, I went for it and it wound up being a great shot. I didn’t expect it though. Honestly, until the seventh round I had given up on the fact that he was ever going to be hurt. I assumed this is going to be a 12-round, hard-fought fight.

Question: How could you see through one eye to throw that punch?

Corrales: The left eye was pretty much closed. It wasn’t all closed, it was pretty close to closed.

Question: In regard to the Mayweather fight, do you feel this somehow vindicates you?

Corrales: Yes, I think it vindicates me. I think it more than vindicates me. I think it has now solidified the fact that my time has come, that I really was there, that I am a person who can come back. I showed I can come back from anything and I showed that this weekend. That is what is most important to me, because I want people to know that when I am down or I am behind, there is no counting me out. I can and will do whatever it takes to win a fight. I can pull it out. Hell or high water is my favorite comment, and it is true.

Question: Would you like a shot with Mayweather down the line?

Corrales: Absolutely. Of course. I would love that very much. That is something I have to avenge here. It is my first loss. It is funny, because our names are going to be stuck together regardless. I think me and Castillo’s name will always be together like mine and Mayweather’s will always be together.

Question: Joe, did you say or do you feel that Corrales and Castillo should not fight again?

Goossen: What I actually said was there is no way one man should have to fight two fights in a career like that; not saying that they should not or will not fight again. But as a trainer you never want to see your guy have to fight more than one fight like that in their career because those are fights that are debilitating and devastating to both sides. Eventually, they might meet, but the talk of having an immediate rematch, that to me is something that should be off in the future. Diego should be able to go in any direction he chooses to because he is the unified champion now, and he should be able to make decisions with his team and his promoter on which way they want to go and not be mandated by anybody. He beat him fair and square. But I have to tell you, the reason why that is going to be a legendary fight is because of the brutality of it and the expertise and precision of the punching. For both guys, and they would absolutely end up doing the same thing again. So maybe eventually they will fight, but not in the immediate future.

Question: Diego, do you think you fought the right fight? Why did you choose to stand flat footed and just trade?

Corrales: This was one of those things I had to do. You take everything out of him by starting him in a fight very, very early. I could have come out boxing in the early part and made it easy on myself through the half. The problem is we have the second half of the fight, where he picks up and he still has that energy. So we had to sit back and tap the tank early and what is the best way to do that? Make you start off out of your norm. He had to start so much quicker by starting from the first round opposed to starting in the seventh that he had no late energy. Now we are basically fighting on an even keel. We are both tired. It is really basically my pace where I can fight the whole 12 rounds. He is fighting half. Now he is fighting me the entire 12 rounds, and we actually gave ourselves a better chance, as far as the later rounds go. He did not have the same kind of energy. I think it was the right fight to fight. It was hard.

Goossen: Basically everyone thought we were going to box, including Castillo, I can guarantee you that. What we did is we surprised the hell out of them, and that is why we had the upper hand through most of the first half of the fight. Then it started seesawing back and forth. The bottom line is we were ahead on two of the three judge’s scorecards, and by three points on one, meaning we were winning the fight at his own game. Diego is 100% right. Had you not put a hurt on that guy’s body and head early on, this guy would have tried to steamroll from six through 12 with a lot of energy left. We had to debilitate him. We had to take some of the starch out of his sails early, even though we were putting ourselves at peril and risk. He was in the same peril and risk we were on the inside. The two knockdowns that happened with Diego were at midrange, when Diego was in close and smothering his big power. He was able to get off short shorts and good body shots, but he was not able to get that long left hook and right hand going, which he depends on so much. The two times Diego got knocked down was at midrange distance, never in close did he get hurt like that. As it turns out, it may have seemed a bizarre strategy to everyone else, but you guys are overlooking the fact that Diego is an expert inside fighter and I think that was proven very handily that night.

Question: How much having been knocked down before helped when you got decked by Castillo?

Corrales: I have to give a lot of credit to the calmness I have, and I think that is the biggest part of being knocked down: relaxing and staying calm, keeping everything in control and perspective. You have to be calm in the fight and relax to be able to do stuff like that. I do not know if it is really just my nature or just the fact that I have been down before, and know what I can do.

Question: Do the comments from Castillo’s promoter change your opinion of him?

Corrales: No. It is hard to take any loss and it is hard to be a champion and lose your title, no matter what kind of fashion it is in. If it is Castillo, no, it will not take anything from him. I will be a Castillo fan and I do not care where he fights at, I am going to go watch him. The guy has earned every bit of my respect. I was in there with him and he has earned that respect.

Question: If the roles were reversed and you lost like he did, how would you feel?

Corrales: I expect I would take it hard. Everybody knows it is hard to take a loss. It is what it is. I would not make any excuses and I would just try to get the rematch and do my best to make the rematch happen. That is all you can do. I would take it the same way I took the fight, as a proud champion.

Question: Going in, did you feel you were fighting the best in Castillo?

Corrales: I knew that me and Castillo both are the same way. I felt I was the best lightweight, he felt he was the best lightweight. We both knew that we were fighting the top lightweight in our division. We both felt that way. There is no doubt in my mind. He has said it, I have said it. I am still saying I fought the best lightweight in the division. There is me and there is him.

Question: Joe, is fighting Erik Morales a possibility or do you guys have to go up to 140 because that is where the money and the fights are?

Goossen: Morales is very tall for his weight (130 pounds) and he can grow in to that weight (135) very easily and put on those pounds. He is getting older too. But with his style, do not say that the money or the fans would not be there. Morales has got a huge following. He fills up 20,000-seaters. A fight between Corrales and Morales - not only does it sound good and rhymes, it would fill up any arena. In the United States, Morales has got a bigger name and I think would draw more people to an arena than Kostya Tszyu would. That is just my opinion. Again, it would be another one of Bob’s (Arum’s) Mexican fighters that he says nobody can beat, so I would like to see that more than anything because, remember, Diego was a 130-pounder nine months ago. The bottom line is I would like to see Morales because he wants to go up to 35. I think Top Rank figured that they were going to keep that 135-pound title, may have moved Castillo up and then could have worked with Morales at 135 pounds with that title. Well, Castillo is not there, he does not have the title, but Morales can still come up to 35 and work with us.

Question: Are you going to go for a big fight after this or are you guys looking for a tune up?

Goossen: I do not know. You can ask Gary Shaw and Jay Prince that. Diego, would you like to comment about Morales?

Corrales: I am game to fight whoever. There is never in any doubts in anybody’s mind.

Goossen: Would you like to fight him though?

Corrales: Of course. I don’t care who it is. My job is to go out there and fight any name that comes up. With Jay Prince and Gary, I let them work those things out. Like I told Jay way back when, he lines them up and I knock them down.

Shaw: Before we get to the next question, as far as Chico opponents go, I have no idea who he is going to fight next and I have no role in picking his opponents. If you look at Chico’s resume, especially his recent fights, this guy has no tune-ups. They are all world class caliber fights. I have always thought that Chico has really been underrated in that regard as far as pound-for-pound lists go. He is definitely going to get more respect after this incredible performance and fight.

Question: Chico, have you watched a replay yet and what were your thoughts while watching it?

Corrales: I watched it on Sunday. I think the first thing I did, the first time I watched it, was say something like “wow.” It was shock, like I can not believe that. To see some of the shots that I took and some of the shots that he took, it was like, whoa. I finally saw how brutal and how exhausting of a fight it was, to be involved in. The second time I watched it was like more of the, wow, I really went through that?

Question: Some are saying that when Jose was up against the ropes and Tony Weeks stopped the fight that he should have administered a count at that point, rather than stopping the fight. Do you agree?

Corrales: Unified rules, no standing 8-count. We fought under unified rules, there is no standing 8- count. If he wanted a count, he needed a knee. Those are the unified rules. We both were subject to those unified rules. What happened happens. He was hurt. Joe, Jay, Gary, everybody knows that when it comes down to being a heartless finisher in that ring, that is my obligation, that is my job. My obligation is to finish off any job. If Tony does not step in, I am still swinging punches today. That is my job and he was dangled on his ropes. He was hurt. Unified rules calls for no standing 8-count. He needed that knee.

Goossen: Number one, again, I reiterate, he was helpless. His arms were down to his side. His neck had lost all muscle control. His eyes were in the back of his head. We are in the gym six days a week, we deal with fighters every day. I do not know about these guys that sit ringside, but we are in the gym six days a week year around, and we deal with a lot of young fighters, veteran fighters and we would no more let a guy take punishment in the gym, even close to that. You think we would go for it to let a guy take punishment in a fight like that? We have a heart for these fighters and if it was my fighter on the ropes like that, I would have been very angry if Tony Weeks had not stepped in before me. Number two, the greatest way of gauging whether a fight was stopped incorrectly or correctly is not when promoters start screaming or managers from the other side start screaming, it is when you look at the corner. The corner people for Castillo did no protesting at all. Castillo did not protest at all. In fact, he had to be sat in his corner for the next five minutes. What does that tell you? It tells you that he could barely stand up after that barrage of punches. The corner did not protest. If I was in the other corner, I would not have protested either. Had it been stopped too early, that corner would have protested. There is your greatest indicator of whether that fight was stopped correctly or not. Not the people that don’t go to gyms, that do not ever strap on a headgear, never been hit in the face, never had a mouthpiece punched out of them, never been helpless. For them, it is easy for them to make comments that it was stopped too early. But any family member of Jose Luis Castillo’s was probably (relieved) it was stopped and his corner did not put up a fuss. That is the greatest indicator that that fight was stopped exactly when it was supposed to.

Corrales: I agree with Joe 100 percent. I have talked with Castillo’s kids, he has got an adorable family. It would be shame to sit back and put that family through what could have happened had Tony not stepped in. He has a beautiful family. Most fighters are family men. The last thing we need to do is have a tragedy happen in the ring with another fighter. I do not know if I could personally stomach that and live with that and look at this man’s family and just stomach that. I do not know if I could do that.

Goossen: Tony Weeks should be given a commendation for what he did.

Question: Diego, how are you doing physically? Did you check out all right, is your eye OK?

Corrales: Yes, I am OK. Everything is good. We were both a little beat up. We beat each other up pretty good in there. Everything is fine. My eyes are still bruised a little bit, but they have opened back up, the swelling is gone pretty much. I feel a lot better. I am in good spirits. I am glad that Castillo is okay and that I am okay.

Goossen: At the hospital that night, Diego got a full CT scan of the head and everything checked out perfectly. That is number one. Number two, all internals were checked out. Blood work was done. Everything turned out perfect. He got a clean bill of health and was released within an hour and a half of the hospital visit.

Question: No blood in the urine?

Goossen: You are always going to get a little bit of that, but that has already cleared up. That lasted one day. It’s like blood in the eye, it’s like blood on the eyebrow, anywhere else, you’re going to get a little blood.

Corrales: I want to say one thing about the team that I have. Speaking of Joe, I cannot say how invaluable he is to the team. His addition to my career has been perfect and I am looking forward to finishing off this career with this guy. This is unbelievable. He is awesome. Joe has been a perfect addition to my team. To the people that are not giving J.P. his props yet, you have got to give James (Prince) his props for what he has done with the fighters he has had, outside of myself. You can’t even say just me. Look at the fighters and look at James, what he has done with some of these fighter’s careers. It is unbelievable. This is a man who came into boxing from the music business and really been a great addition to the sport. Gary, we have had an awesome run. He had worked wonders with my career. Look what we have done. You have to look at this team all the way through and just be happy with what we have done.